October 22, 2010 7:00 pm

The people behind YWCA Pierce County’s new shelter for victims of domestic violence never dreamed it would be so beautiful.

They never dreamed that so many donors – 400 who gave money and another 200 who gave goods and time – would support the project to the extent that they have,

But they did, and from 10 a.m.m to 5 p.m. Saturday we can all see what they’ve accomplished. For $10, we can tour the 22 apartments in the old Wilsonian at 401 St. Helens Avenue.

From the basement, with its new boiler for the radiator heating syste, and its expanded food bank space, to the top floor with some of Tacoma’s best views, it’s a triumph of putting an old building to a bright new use.

But it’s the designers who have put the fun into the tour. They volunteered to design, and furnish an apartment in which people fleeing abuse can find the peace they need to rebuild their lives.

They asked artists to give paintings, prints and paint murals, they asked suppliers for high-quality furniture, drapes, bedding and accessories. They put it together with the kind of care they would devote to elite clients.

There’s a room full of Waldo for kids who need to have fun. There’s a studio for a single woman learning to sail her own ship. There’s elegance, a sense of desert spareness, eclectic style. They thought of all the details, from salt shakers to Q-tips.

You can see more at a slide show put together by News Tribune photographer Drew Perine.

Here’s your roster of the heroes who gave their talent, their cash, energy and skill to get hurting families into a place of peace, not pain:

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